Love for their child and love for their grandchild has no bounds and it is reflected in the number of grandparent-lead families in Australia.

The 2016 Census showed more than 60,000 of those families exist.

Data shows it is the fastest-growing form of out-of-home care in Australia, with 48 per cent of children in the formal care system living with kin, compared to 38 per cent of foster care. However, Tasmanian out-of-home care data from 2018 shows we are the state bucking this national trend, with just a quarter of children in out-of-home kinship care. That's why it's disappointing that no action has been taken by any level of government to support these families and the challenges they face as elderly carers.

Kin Raising Kids secretary Frank Tyers, who has been raising three of his grandchildren since they were in nappies, said the organisation was meeting with Legislative Council members on Thursday to lobby for more support.

For the past 12 months The Examiner has run a series on grandparents raising grandchildren, highlighting the plight of these families, who don't receive any funding support, despite the significant challenges faced by older carers.

It is preferable to keep families together if possible, even despite challenges faced by the parents of these children. So a lack of action by the government is a slap in the face to the people who give up their golden years raising children.

Raising children is a tough gig - ask any parent around. It's a full-time job on top of a full-time job and it doesn't end for many years. And while we are sure none of these grandparents would complain about tackling that task for the sake of love, surely it's not too much to ask for the government to give some assistance in line with foster carers. The spotlight will now be on the Legislative Council members, to see how they respond to the meeting and if any movement will finally be taken to improve caring equity for grandparents' sacrifice.